Balochistan: 37 forcibly disappeared, 25 including a woman killed in June 2021

At least 37 cases of enforced disappearances and more than twenty-five cases of killing were reported in Balochistan in June.

On the first day of the month, the personnel of Pakistan’s intelligence agencies broke into the House of Bahadur Ali Kiazai in Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan, and whisked him away. He has been missing since.

On June 02, Murad Baloch, a resident of Kech, was whisked away by the security forces from Hub Chowki while he was traveling to Karachi for the treatment of his child.

On June 04, unknown armed men abducted Jango Karim from Jahoo area of district Awaran. Mostly, such abductions are done by members of local death squads, which are backed by the powerful military or secret agencies.

On June 05, personnel of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) opened fire on Ghulam Qadir and Bahadur Khan critically injuring them, and then took them away, while they were going to Kalat from Zehri. However, the CDT claimed that both were armed and were arrested in an exchange of fire, while locals refuted this claim and said both the victims were unarmed.

The same day, Mahmood Hashim, an oil trader and a resident of Parom area of district Panjgur who had migrated to western Balochistan, Iran, due to the unemployment in eastern Balochistan, was forcibly abducted by the security forces of Pakistan on his way to Panjgur. He was previously disappeared once in March, this year, but was later released.

Separately, forces raided a house in Talawan area of Zehri, district Khuzdar, arrested Yasir Ayub and then shifted him to an unknown location after detention. The women were also reportedly harrassed during the raid.

On June 06, two people, 17-year-old Aisam son of Noor Bakhsh, and Master Abdullah, were abducted by the security forces during separate raids in Konshkalat and Malikabad areas of Tump, district Kech.

On June 08, on the occasion of ‘Baloch Missing Persons Day’ in the capital city of Balochistan, Quetta, two persons, Qasim and Bilal, went missing while returning home after attending a rally for the release of Baloch missing persons.

The same day, the police along with the personnel of intelligence agencies forcefully disappeared Mansoor Qambrani, a mountaineer of Murid Adventure Club.

On June 09, Sameer Murad and Rustum Hassan, students, were whisked away by the secret agencies while they were on the way from Turbat to Herronk. Since then, no one has heard of them.

On 11 June, forces raided a house in Geshkore area of Kolwah, abducted Siraj son of Wahid Bakhsh, and Hassan son of Rehmat. While on the other hand, Dawood Latif went missing after being detained by the personnel of the Frontier Corps in Apsar area of district Kech. According to reports, the forces severely tortured other membera of the family too.

On June 12, paramilitary forces abducted two residents of district Khuzdar, Liaqat son of Abdul Rehman, and Wasim of Shareef.

On June 16, as many as six people were taken away during a military raid in Ismail Ward area of Gwadar while only three of the victims could be identified as Salah son of Munir, Qadir Dad son of Din Muhammad, and Yasir son of Hameed. However, according to information, the forces’ behaviour was extremely disrespectful towards women and children. They also looted a huge amount of cash including three camels.

Meanwhile, the forces abducted another pwrson namely Sangas son of Jumma from the Sakkag area of Kolwah, district Kech, during a military operation.

On June 18, Manzoor son of Ghani Khan Langani, Bozo Khan son of Nazar Ali Langani, and Nabal Jattoi were whisked away by the intelligence agencies from Hazar Ganji, Quetta. Bozo Khan had earlier gone missing from Harnai along with his brother Meera Khan and then was released after 5 years of severe torture in illegal custody.

On June 22, security forces along with death squad members raided a house in Talemi Chowk, district Kech, and abducted Imam son of Saeed, a student of Ata Shad Degree College. The same night, forces abducted his cousin, Sameer son of Faqeer, from Zorbazar area of district Kech.

During the same day, forces put under siege Kallag area of district Kech and conducted a search operation where a student named Fida son of Habib was arrested and then disappeared.

On June 24, Muhammad Musa son of Muhammad Amin was forcibly disappeared by the secret agencies from Ghora Chowk in Turbat, the main city of district Kech.

On June 26, paramilitary forces raided Gomazi, Tump area of district Kech, and abducted three people, Umeer son of Dad Mohammed, Rozeg son of Murad Mohammed, and Habib Waju.

The same day, two others went missing; Shahmir son of Pir Bakhsh from Kallag area of district Kech, and Amir son of Dad Jan was abducted from Tasp area of Gharibabad, Panjgur.

Osama, Ghulam, and Mansoor were whisked away by the military forces and intelligence agencies in May (we received the report of their abduction much later in June that’s why the news could not be included in our last month report).

Killed:

As many as 25 cases of killing were reported in June. Some bodies have still not been identified. In most cases of such nature the victims are those who had been abducted by the security forces. Extra-judicial killings are deliberately carried out by the forces to suppress the masses in Balochistan. Recently, the forces readopted the policy of killing years-long missing persons in fake encounters.

On June 19, four people were killed in a fake encounter by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Marwar. The victims were identified as Ali Baig, Khairo, Mullah Madu and Murad Bakhsh who were forcibly disappeared by the military forces and intelligence agencies in recent years.

Many cases of custodial killings reported reported in June. The victims either succumbed to severe torture during operations or interrogation in the torture cells of the army.

On June 12, personnel of Frontier Corps picked up four residents of Kunshqalat of Tump, district Kech, during an operation and disappeared them. The next day, the family of Gohram Nadil, one of the four victims, received a phone call from the area FC camp, from where they were asked to collect his dead body. He had died due to the torture. The family rushed to the camp, but they were turned back without the body and any explanation. The next day, the family was called again early in the morning to collect the body. The FC ordered them to bury the coffin without opening it. The three remaining abductees, Sattar Ilahi Bakhsh, Sohrab Rahim, and Abdullah, were later released.

In another case, during a military operation in Nakshali, Keelkore area of district Kech, a man Pir Jan son of Ahmed was inhumanly tortured and beaten to death by the forces on June 02.

A few days later, forces launched another operation in Keelkore and extrajudicially killed Basham son of Sakim, a resident of Kahur Tok area. His body is still in the custody of the Army.

On June 21, a woman Rasheeda was killed in Bullo, Mand area of district Kech, while trying to save a child from violence from a school teacher. The killers belong to a powerful family, backed by state institutions.

In other incidents, three children lost their lives as a result of a grenade explosion in Quetta, six people were killed in separate target killing incidents carried out by unknown militants, while two were murdered in the name of honor, and four militants of Baloch nationalist organizations were killed during clashes with the Frontier Corps.

Human Rights Council of Balochistan (Hakkpaan) is a non-profit and non-partisan human rights group based in Balochistan and Sweden. It collects reports from Balochistan, a region Pakistan government does not allow any media and HR group to visit and report. Human rights violations in Balochistan is not a new phenomenon, but it got its worst levels after the Military coup de tat of Pakistan in 1999. Thousands of Baloch have been reported missing, hundreds killed in fake encounters and so-called kill and dump policy of the military. HRCB collects the data from Balochistan itself, through its network of volunteers and supporters, organizes and reports them to the human rights mechanisms of the world.